Northern Bound
by dloman77
Summary: A man reluctantly returns home to pick up the pieces of his life, only to have it changed forever.


Tony felt the change in resistance as the axe finally split the wood, the halves falling to the ground on either side of the stump. The pile of wood chunks finally big enough, he took one final swing and buried the axe deep in the stump. He straightened, his back popping in several places, and lamented his age yet again. The crisp Alaskan air filled his lungs as he breathed in his youth, and he felt his weariness melt away. It was good to be back home.

Too long had Tony spent down in mainland USA, making his "fortune." Too long away from his roots, from nature. Growing up in rural Alaska had made him a shy boy. While uncomfortable in large city, his soul had yearned for adventure. Snorting at the thought that a boy who grew up hunting grizzly bears and running wolves off his parents property would look upon urban America as an adventure.

Loading up the first armful of wood, Tony walked the short distance to the lodge's Wood Door and stacked the pieces just inside. It was his dad that named this door the "Wood Door". Not exactly a rocket scientist, his father had been intelligent in his own way. He had added on the back of the lodge and made an entire room for storing cut wood, accessible from both inside the lodge and from the splitting yard in back. In his youth, Tony had not thought this particularly clever or smart, but rather a bit lazy. Now that he was a few years into his forties and had more than his fair share of aches and pains, his father's wisdom seemed much more sound.

Cut two days worth of wood per day. That was his goal. His parents had left behinds enough wood to keep the common room of the lodge and all 8 rooms warm through the next winter, but that was it. But they had always kept the house colder than Tony had liked, so the wood pile might not actually last him the winter. Even though what he chopped now wouldn't get a full season of drying before it is used, he would much rather have a surplus of heat for this next winter.

Before the end, his father had finally given in to the doctors orders and put down the ax. Much to Tony's mother's displeasure, a gas powered log splitter arrived on the next mail airplane, since these were the days before the road was put in. The argument that followed could only be described as epic.

This brought a smile to Tony's face. Both his parents had indomitable spirits and he could feel them still. Here, in this slice of paradise, they fought nature and carved out 58 years of marriage before they were called to whatever lay beyond. They had both passed away in their sleep less than 3 days from each other. His father had gone first, having spent the last of his life force providing for his wife and child.

The neighbors said that his mom had not shed a tear, but instead, smiled a knowing smile. Despite being checked on daily by friends of the family, she passed peacefully in her sleep a few days later. She had known her time on this earth was done, and regardless of not knowing what comes next, she welcomed it.

Tony had been warned by friends that his parents were not doing well and that he should return home, but wrapped up in his youthful ignorance, he had delayed too long. His parents, his home... they were a constant. Before he had realized it, both his parents were almost a year gone before he finally made the trip home.

And what a trip it had been.

His life had fallen apart around him. His marriage had failed and his wife's family ran him out of the small Texas town, tarnishing his name to the point where he was sure he would be shot on sight if he showed his face there again. Throwing everything he owned into the back of his Toyota Tacoma, Tony drained what little remained of his bank account and hit the road.

He had always been smarter than both his parents, but had never put his gifts to use. Dropping out of college, Tony found himself working road crew during the day and, if he wasn't drinking himself to death, he was an amateur astronomer at night. He was more fascinated with the Sun than with any other star. The sheer magnitude of power always left him in awe.

It was because of this connection to the scientific community that he understood the magnitude of the news that was released to the public on his 6th day of travel. He had just crossed the border into Alaska, and had stopped to fuel up. The quickie mart clerk was young dark haired beauty, the type that Tony knew could win beauty contests, but was more likely going to get pregnant, get married and then spend the rest of her life in this blink of a town in the middle of nowhere. While she was busy two handing a text message on her smart phone, a small TV mounted near the ceiling was spewing out the daily news.

A red banner scrolled across the bottom of the screen, proudly displaying the words "Breaking News". The two talking heads behind the desk were smiling their fake smiles as they relayed the news that the largest Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME, in recorded history was a scant 11 hours from impacting earth. They went on to say that experts were monitoring the situation and that there is nothing to worry about.

Tony snorted loudly. The texting clerk stopped pounding away at the screen and glared at him. Feeling a bit of color rushing into his cheeks, he pointed to the television and snorted again.

"Experts, yeah right."

The teen had pulled her feet off the counter and stood up, replying with a bored sounding tone, "I know right? They like wont shut up about that dumb solar flare. Is that gonna be all for you?"

Tony paid for his Mountain Dew and Doritos, and was back on the road shortly there after. But the news about the CME concerned him. He was no scientist, and what he did know, he had learned from Youtube. Not exactly a quality education, but it was also amazing the amount of good information on the internet that was completely free.

He had known that if that CME hit the planet just right, that it would effectively bounce right off and the most humanity would see would be a fantastic display of the Northern Lights. He also knew that it was a 50/50 chance for it to bounce right off. That left a 50% chance that it wouldn't.

His memory told him it was 6 hours to Anchorage, and another 4 past that to his home. If he pushed it thru the night, he could make it home before this event did or did not happen.

The last chunk of fire wood fit neatly into place and Tony pushed the Wood Door shut just as the sun started to set. The trip had been two weeks ago and he was still basically operating nocturnally. Up at night, asleep late into the afternoon. he was slowly rolling his schedule back, but without his coveted energy drinks, it was proving more difficult than he ever thought possible.

The evening breeze blew in as Tony walked around the side of the lodge, rustling leaves in the forest beyond. A branch snapped some distance off and his heart jumped. His rifle lay leaning against his quad ATV, just around the corner of the lodge, and he quickened his pace. As he reached the only operating vehicle on the property, he snatched up his father's antique .30-06 bolt action file and held it at a low ready.

Tony's heart wasn't exactly pounding, but he could still hear it drumming in his ears. He had been a long time away from Alaska, but he never remembered it being this cool this early in the year. Nor could he remember the wild life being so bold, especially so near an inhabited village. After a few minutes of scanning the treeline, he relaxed, calking up the noise to the wind snapping a branch. A branch that would eventually end up in his fire place.

The village was special in many ways and upon proper reflection, Tony realized how lucky he was to have come home when he did. Like many rural Alaskan villages, wisdom of hundreds of generations of First People still held strong, and yet more and more villages were assimilating newer technologies into their way of life. For decades, electrical power had primarily been through diesel generators, run a few hours a day. That was very expensive, as the fuel had to be flown in.

But about 15 years ago, just after Tony had left the village, the community members got an idea to put in a very small hydro electric plant in the caves next to a waterfall. While expensive, the project was eventually finished and the diesel generators were resigned to the duty of backup power only. Quieter and cleaner, the hydro plant was barely visible, save for the dirt road leading to the power station, and the electric cables running from it.

The village elders had thought it prudent for the hydro plant to be shut down. They did not know much about solar storms, but they had read of similar things happening back in the 1800's and felt caution would be a wise course. As many circuit breakers and disconnects that could be found were opened or powered off in the hours prior to the CME hitting. Everyone unplugged as much as they could. Some even took the batteries out of cars.

As he turned his truck off the new road that connected Anchorage to a strip mine deep in the mountains, Tony stopped the vehicle in horror. The village was cold and dark, and if it wasn't for the tell tail wisps of smoke rising from chimneys, he would have sworn it was abandoned. Frightened of what he would find, he started off down the gentle hill into the village proper.

He was not expected, nor was he expecting to find what he did. His fears were washed away as old friends embraced him and laughed as they explained what he had actually seen. After a while, even Tony could not help but laugh at himself. Too long away from home had him thinking like a "city boy."

As usual, the same First People wisdom that had kept their ancestors alive for thousands of years prevailed yet again. Sparks had flew from only one village transformer as the CME's power pulsed through the atmosphere. The nights had been so bright, the Aurora so glorious, that lights were not needed. The sky was so beautiful that it was difficult to understand that nature was not celebrating life, but instead, was the harbinger of death.

Eventually, after a few days, the hydro plant was brought back online, the small destroyed transformer replaced. Lights, cellphones, radios and televisions powered up. But nothing was there. No cell signal could be found. No Satellites could be connected to for television. Some of the newer trucks wouldn't start, despite the precautions they took. It was only the older CB and Ham radios that gave any hint that life still existed outside their village. It seemed the network of amateur radio operators were the only thing still functioning, and this meant that all news was only by word of mouth.

Even though these radiomen were known for embellishing things akin to fish tales, it quickly became apparent that things in the world were bad.

Very Bad.

Cities had erupted into riots that first night, as the realization that resources would soon become scarce and that the only law of the land left was Survival of the Fittest. Millions died that first night alone. Police, National Guards and Militaries across the globe were all called in to quell the unrest. But few answered the call, choosing instead to stay home to protect their own loved ones. Hospitals were inundated with the injured and dying, and were overwhelmed when the resource hungry mobs turned their lecherous sights on the hospital supply rooms.

Governments across the world ushered off the elite few into well stocked bunkers and then went radio silent, leaving the general population to fend for themselves. A few nations engaged in a very brief, but very decisive nuclear exchange. Airplanes fell from the sky, boats powered down and were left to drift in the vastness of the planet's oceans, and the astronauts in space were condemned to a slow and lonely death miles above the surface of the planet.

Glorious in its beauty, relentless in its destruction, the glow the the Aurora shone silently down upon them all.

In the following days, only a handful of people dared left the village to search for loved ones. Most everyone who remained gathered at the community center to discuss how to best prepare for the days to come. It was agreed upon that life will continue much as it always had. Hunting. Fishing. Gardening. The Hydro plant will be kept online as long as possible, but lacking replacement for things like lubricating oils for generator bearings, it was only a matter of time before the plant would have to be shut down forever.

Everyone had noticed the sudden drop in temperature, and only a few had escaped encounters with unusually aggressive wildlife. Some said with no machines running in the world, there was much less heat generated. Others thought that would it would take weeks for the planet to cool off. No one, however, could explain the animals. The little livestock that was in the village was guarded like precious gemstones after the first raid by wolves. No one went outside unarmed any longer. Like everyone else in attendance, Tony had left that meeting in silence, contemplating what this meant for themselves, for the future.

Tony scaled the steps onto the deck his parents had used for entertaining the guests of their 8 room lodge and looked down the valley. The sun was even lower now, and the chill in the breeze told him it was going to be cold enough tonight to warrant a small fire. It was late in the year, and the days were getting increasingly shorter, meaning less and less energy from the sun. He wasn't so far north that the sun would set for winter and not come back up till spring, but he was close.

As he walked to and opened the sturdy spruce door, he turned as he heard the far off cry of a lone wolf. As the last rays of the sun streamed thru the trees, an answering howl came from even farther away. Tony stood and listened as silence fell across the land of his youth and the only light came from the fixtures on the inside of the lodge. As if a final death throw, the breeze gusted one last time, rustling leaves, and then died out.

"This winter is going to be a hard one. A long one."

He stepped inside and closed the heavy door, plunging the wilderness into the coming Long Dark.


End file.
